


december 9th: growing pains

by watergator



Series: december fic advent 2019 [9]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21735793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: prompt: teethingdan wakes in the night to the sound of crying
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: december fic advent 2019 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559341
Comments: 10
Kudos: 127





	december 9th: growing pains

His heart leaps into his throat when he hears it.

A scratchy cry that crackles through the speaker of the baby monitor beside his head has him jolting up out of bed.

It takes a moment to realise where he is and what time it is. The room is blanketed in a heavy darkness that disorientates him for a moment, until he’s blinking and everything comes to a more fuzzy understanding.

There’s silence for a split second that makes him wonder if he maybe imagined the sounds beside him, until they come through again, gargled and pained sounding.

Dan rips the blankets off his legs and stumbles out of bed, uncaring of his partner laid beside him that he’s potentially woken up.

He leaves the room and lets his legs guide him on autopilot to the little painted nursery.

The room is dark, only a soft little glow of a night light that emits a gentle orange hue in the corner of the room.

There, under the bay window lays the crib, where a squirming little baby lays, chubby legs kick up in the air and shadows dance across the walls.

Dan gets nearer to peer down at her, her face is red and scrunched up, rightly so as she lets out a rather loud wail.

Little fists are balled up so tightly and firmly and Dan can’t spend another moment letting her lay there unattended to, and so he scoops her up in her arms and pulls her to his chest.

“Hey, hey, I’ve got you,” he whispers to her.

Her little hiccuping sobs almost drown out the quietness of his voice.

She cries again and Dan cradles the back of her head with his large hand, fingers twirl through little curls.

“There,” he soothes her, taking little steps around the room. “I’ve got you. Daddy’s got you.”

She’s crying into his shirt now, feeling the wet patch from her tears and dribbles as Dan continues to rock and bounce her with tiny little shushes to calm her.

She hums for a moment, wearing herself out as her cries seem to slow down and become less intense.

Outside a car drives under the window, tires roll against wet road, making a soothing splashing sound from the rain earlier today.

Dan won’t let go of her, even when she’s making little snuffling sounds. He kisses her head and she gurgles, something sad and pitiful.

He hears footsteps behind him and turns around to see the shape of Phil stood in the doorway of the room.

He’s yawning when they meet eyes.

“It’s the teething,” Dan tells him with a small whisper.

Phil doesn’t need to know; they’ve spent the last couple of days dealing with this newfound problem with their baby.

She’d started teething - a horrible process that would leave her crying and sobbing and hiccuping into her daddy’s arms until the pain went away.

The light is still low but Dan is able to make out the way Phil’s face changes; a sympathetic smile

“Do you have her?” He asks, his voice is croaky and thick with sleep.

Dan wonders if he’d woken up to the sound of her cries and his voice on the monitor, or maybe he’d just known somewhere deep down. Dad instincts.

Dan looks down at her.

He buries his nose into the little wispy curls on top of her head, pressing his lips there once again.

She’s seemingly settled, for now at least.

In a few hours exhaustion would have ended and she’ll probably wake up and cry some more about the cruel ways our bodies change, and how our tiny baby brains can’t understand that just yet.

That’s the worst thing, Dan thinks. How she can’t even understand why she’s in pain. She cant help herself because she simply doesn’t understand it. She doesn’t know that teeth are growing inside her head right now and soon enough once they’ve done their job, the pain will forever be over.

But she, a six month old baby doesn’t understand that. 

To her, this pain is world ending; it’s the biggest disaster of her universe, and all she can do is cry and cry and cry and hope her dads come and protect her from it.

And although it’s only teeth, Dan will do his best.

He’s pulled from his thoughts when he hears his name being called softly, and for a moment, he forgets what Phil even asked.

_ “Do you have her?” _

Phil’s voice echoes in his head. He swallows thickly.

She’s safe, she’s in his arms. She’s okay. She’s loved and that’s all he can do for now.

He looks at Phil, his sleepy face and bent over posture and ruffled birds nest hair, and he smiles.

This is the safest place for her.

“Yeah,” he croaks. “I’ve got her.”

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr !! @watergator


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